May 27 – College Update on COVID-19

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians of St Patrick’s College,

As you may be aware the State Government has today announced a seven-day lockdown to help combat the growing COVID-19 outbreak.

We understand this presents another challenging time for us all and will cause some distress in our community. Your ongoing understanding and support is always greatly appreciated. Having been down this path on three separate occasions we can take the following steps with the confidence that our staff, our students and our parents are equipped to deal with these challenges.

The lockdown takes effect from 11.59pm tonight and is due to be lifted at the same time next week.

This will result in a return to remote and flexible learning.

In readiness for this, tomorrow (Friday, May 28) will be allocated as a staff planning day.

Students will be encouraged to spend this time preparing their own week ahead.

Unit 3/4 teachers who wish to run an online class on Friday, May 28 may choose to do so and, if so, will communicate this directly to their students today. No other classes will be offered.

We will commence remote and flexible learning on Monday, May 31 and will plan to continue this for the entirety of the week for boys in Years 7-10. We are planning to welcome Unit 3/4 Classes back on-site on Friday, June 4. A scheduled Year 11 trial GAT will proceed on that day.

We will offer on-site supervision for those students whose parents are deemed essential workers or who are classified as being at-risk, from tomorrow. Parents who require their sons to be supervised on-site must register their attendance by filling in the form at this link.

Our hope and our intention is to return to in-class learning for all students on Monday, June 7.

Remote and flexible learning will be conducted via Microsoft Teams as it was done earlier this year and in 2020.

During the lockdown period students will only be able to access the College through the front gates and will need to sign in at reception. All other gates will be locked. Student supervision will be conducted in the Year 12 Study Centre. Attending students must wear masks and practice safe social distancing. The canteen will be closed and students will not be permitted to leave the College during the school day.

College reception will remain open for normal operating hours although the College Shop will be closed.

Once again, we thank you for your patience, support and understanding along with your commitment to joining us as we offer the best education possible for our students, even in these most difficult of times.

We hope you stay safe and well in the coming days.